Tool for applying fasteners



Feb. 23, 1937. .1. w. DEWS 2,071,506

TOOL FOR APPLYING FASTENERS- Original Filed April 29, 1935 INVENTOR WM, BY

ATTORNEYS Patented Feb. 23, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Joseph W. Dews, Waterbury, Cnn., assignor to Scovill Manufacturing Company, a corporation of Connecticut Original application April 29, 1935, Serial No. 18,824. Divided and this application May 13,

1936, Serial No. 79,538

7 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in tools adapted for use in applying fastening devices to garments or other articles of which they are intended to form parts, and is a division of my copending application Serial No. 18,824, filed April 29, 1935. Such tools, although applicable to methods and fasteners of widely varying character, are particularly designed for use in securing garment fasteners to articles of wearing apparel, and are herein disclosed in connection with the application of a stud element of a snap fastener of the ball and socket type to a sheet of rubber or equivalent elastic material.

It is an object of the invention to produce a tool with the aid of which fastener elements of a simple character may be readily attached to rubber or similar elastic sheet material without the necessity of perforating the material before applying the fastener elements, or of using accurately fitting elements having sharpened edges to perforate the material as they are applied, or of resorting to the use of a fastener tack having a pointed end to perforate the material as it is forced into the stud.

The noveltool embodyingthe invention consists of an anvil to receive and support one of the two fastener elements to be applied to a garment or other article and a pointed mandrel adapted to be thrust through the wall portion of one of the fastener elements and perforate the underlying sheet material to which the fastener is to be applied, after which the other of the two fastener elements may have its end rolled outwardly from the flaring surface of the mandrel into a clinching engagement with the element which is seated against the anvil of the tool.

When applying fastener elements in accordance with the method which may be used with the aid of the above described tool, the parts of the fastener need comprise nothing more than a pair of loosely telescoping, flanged elements which may, as a matter of convenience, be referred to respectively as a stud and an eyelet. The stud-entering end of the eyelet need not be sharpened and should be of a diameter somewhat smaller than the opening in the stud, so that when the stud and eyelet are telescoped one within the other, with the elastic steel material between them, the part of the sheet material immediately overlying the entering end of the eyelet will be stretched and thrust into the opening in the stud, the loose fit between the eyelet and the stud being such as to afford ample space for the elastic material to enter. After the eyelet has stretched the elastic material overlying its entering end and forced it into the opening in the stud, the pointed mandrel of the fastener-attaching tool is thrust through the wall of the stud overlying the inserted end of the eyelet and caused to perforate the stretched rubber at the center of the entering end of the eyelet. The stretched rubber is thus free to expand about the perforation and be drawn backwardly towards the base of the eyelet so as to relieve the strain on the rubber and leave a large portion of the inserted end of the eyelet bare. The stud and eyelet may then be pressed between the anvil of the tool which surrounds the mandrel and an anvil which may be applied to the base of the eyelet, so as to cause the inserted end of the eyelet to be rolled outwardly around the flaring walls of the mandrel into a clinching engagement with the surrounding por-- tion of the stud which is nested within a recess in the part of the anvil which surrounds the mandrel. By thus forcing the eyelet into the stud and rolling its end into engaging relation with the inner part of the head of the stud, the flanges of the stud and eyelet may be brought into a close engaging relationship with the sheet material immediately surrounding the inserted part of the eyelet, which will have been relieved from anything in the nature of excessive strain and restored to approximately normal condition after being perforated by the pointed mandrel and before being clamped between the flanges of the stud and eyelet so as to lie flat and smooth without any puckers or wrinkles after the fastener has been applied.

The attached fastener as applied to the article on which it is to be used differs from known constructions of the prior art in that the elastic material, although no part of it has been cut out and removed, is drawn clear of the portion of the eyelet which is rolled into an engaging relation with the inner wall of the stud, and although clamped between the flanges of the stud and eyelet, the edge portion which surrounds the eyelet has no tendency to expand the walls of the protuberant portion of the stud at its base since the designed loose fit between the stud and the eyelet is such as to provide space for the entrance of the stretched rubber when the eyelet is first thrust into the stud and for the withdrawal of the rubber surrounding the eyelet after it has been perforated by the setting tool.

In the accompanying drawing illustrating a preferred form of the invention,-

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a conventional form of snap fastener stud. Fig. 2 is a conventional form of eyelet which might be used in securing the stud of Fig. 1 to a part of a rubber garment or other article of sheet material. These two parts need not differ from those commonly used in the prior art other than that the portion of the eyelet intended to enter the opening in the back of the stud should be of slightly smaller diameter than would ordinarily be used in order to allow the sheet material to enter and be withdrawn.

Fig. 3 is an axial cross-sectional view through a stud, an eyelet, a sheet of material to which the stud and eyelet are to be applied, a conventional form of anvil to be used in inserting the eyelet, and a setting tool for the stud comprising a pointed mandrel and anvil embodying the herein-disclosed invention.

Figs. 4, 5, 6 and '7 are similar cross-sectional views of the parts illustrated in Fig. 3, such parts being represented in different positions to which they are successively moved when applying the stud and eyelet to the intervening sheet of elastic material.

Fig. 8 is a view, partly in axial cross section and partly in perspective, representing a snap fastener stud and eyelet secured to a sheet of elastic material.

Fig. 9 is a perspective view of a modified form of fastener stud which may be used in practicing the invention.

As has already been explained, the stud illustrated by Fig. l is of conventional form comprising the usual head 20, neck 2| and flange 22. Likewise, the eyelet may be of conventional form comprising a hollow cylindrical post 23, base 24 and flange25. 7 The setting tool for the stud, as best illustrated in Fig. 3, may comprise a body portion 26 and a core 21 telescoped one within the other. The core may be adjustably secured within the body portion in any appropriate manner with its lower end slightly above the lower end of the body portion. In the form of the invention herein disclosed the upper end of the core 2? is slotted as at 28 and has threaded engagement as at 29 with the inner wall of the body portion so that by the use of an ordinary screw-driver, the position of the core within the body portion may be readily adjusted, and, if desired, the core may be held in any such position of adjustment, in any suitable manner, as by the use of a set-screw 33 in the body portion having its end so positioned that it may be forced into clamping engagement with the surface of the core.

The lower working face 3i of the body portion of the setting tool should be of a form such as to serve as an anvil for the flange of the stud, and the opening in the body portion of the tool which receives the core 21 should be of a diameter such that its lower end may serve as a recess of a size adapted to receive the head of the stud.

At the center of the lower end of the core is a part which may be properly referred to as a mandrel, having a pointed end as at 32 and an outwardly flaring wall 33 of substantially conical form merging into an annular curved surface 34 which serves as an anvil for the head of a fastener stud during a setting operation.

The anvil 35 should have an upper working surface adapted to conform with that of the base of the eyelet to be used in securing the stud to an intervening sheet of rubber or other elastic material 36.

The stud and eyelet illustrated in Fig. 3 may be secured to the sheet material 36 by the use of any appropriate machine (not shown) adapted to force the setting tool 26, 21 and anvil 35 towards each other. Machines operated by hand power, foot power, and what are known as automatic machines, adapted for use in thus securing fastener parts to sheet material are well known in the prior art and need not be herein specifically disclosed.

The approximate relative movements of the parts of the fastener elements and setting tools during a setting operation are illustrated in Figs. 4 to 7, inclusive, it being understood, of course, that the relative degree of movement of the different parts with respect to one another may vary to some extent and might not exactly conform with the conventional representation in the various figures of the drawing. In Fig. 4 the stud is represented as having been moved into the recess in the lower part of the setting tool with the center of its head in contact with the perforating point 32. In the same view the upper end of the eyelet is represented as having engaged and stretched the overlying part of the sheet of elastic material 36 and forced it into the opening in the base of the stud. In Fig. the eyelet is represented as having forced the stretched overlying elastic material to a position quite close to the under surface of the head of the stud, and the perforating point of the setting tool is represented as having been thrust through the wall of the head of the stud to a position in which it is in readiness to perforate the underlying portion of the sheet of elastic material. In Fig. 6 the elastic material is represented as having been perforated and the edges of the portion surrounding the perforation are represented as having been stretched outwardly sufliciently to snap down towards the base of the eyelet to the positions indicated at 31, Fig. 6. In this figure the eyelet is represented as having been thrust upwardly to a position such that its entering end surrounding the flaring wall 33 of the mandrel has been rolled over after making contact with the under surface of the head of the stud, the flange 25 of the eyelet and the flange 22 of the stud approaching the positions in which they will clamp the elastic material 36 between them.

In Fig. 7 the setting operation is indicated as having been completed. The upper end of the eyelet and the adjacent portion of the head of the stud are represented at 38 as having been rolled into a clinching engagement with each other by the flaring wall 33 of the mandrel and surrounding wall 34 of the core 21 of the tool. The flanges 22, 25 of the stud and eyelet are also represented as having been pressed into clamping engagement with the portion of the sheet of elastic material 36 surrounding the part through which the post of the eyelet has been inserted.

Fig. 8 represents the stud and eyelet as having been attached to the sheet of elastic material and the setting tools withdrawn. It will be apparent that since the stretched portion of the sheet of elastic material has been perforated and permitted to expand and slip down towards the base of the eyelet, there will be no layer of intervening elastic material to interfere with the satisfactory clinching of the upper end of the eyelet in the head of the stud, and since the annular space between the post of the eyelet and the inner wall of the stud is such as to provide for a free movement of the stretched elastic material, the part of the elastic material to which the fastener elements are secured is permitted to return to a substantially normal condition before it is clamped between the flanges 22, 25 of the stud and. eyelet, thus avoiding any wrinkling of the surrounding material.

In Figs. 3 to '7, inclusive, the stud is represented as one having an imperforate head which is perforated by the point 32 of the setting tool during a setting operation. In Fig. 9 is illustrated a modified form of stud having a centrally-disposed perforation 39 in its head through which the point 32 of the setting tool may enter and then perforate the underlying elastic material to which the stud is to be secured. The perforation may be made with an ordinary drift-pin, and, if desired, the knurled burr may be removed before securing the stud to the article on which it is to be used. When using this preperforated form of fastener element it may be immediately thrust to a seated position in the recess in the setting tool, that is, to the position indicated in Fig. 6, at the initial stage of the setting operation, illustrated by Fig. 4, with the point 32 of the mandrel extended through the perforation in the fastener element in readiness to perforate the elastic material when forced against it by the upper end of the eyelet as it is moved towards the position in which it is illustrated in Fig. 6.

The stud and eyelet or other fastening elements to which the invention is applied may be made of any appropriate metal or alloy. If used on rubber, aluminum or some other non-copper content metal would serve as a satisfactory material for the fastener elements.

As already explained, the perforated fastener of the character of the one illustrated by Fig. 9 may be applied to the sheet material, on which it is to be used, with the aid of the tool illustrated in Fig. 3, whether or not the inturned burr of metal surrounding the perforation 39 has been removed. If the burr is permitted to remain, the form and dimensions of the mandrel may be such that the point 32 will extend below the burr and serve as a means of perforating the underlying sheet material during a fastening operation before the sheet material is brought into contact with the burr.

The invention is not intended to be limited to the specific tool, method and fastener parts herein disclosed for purposes of illustration, but should be regarded as including modifications and variations thereof Within the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. A tool for attaching a stud fastener to an underlying sheet of material comprising a body having marginal portions adapted to serve as an anvil for the flanged part of a stud, and a centrally located recess having cylindrical side walls adapted to receive the head of the stud; and support the side walls of such head, and a conical mandrel having a pointed end. disposed within said recess and adapted to pierce the head of such stud.

2. A tool for attaching a stud fastener to an underlying sheet of material comprising a body having marginal portions adapted to serve as a support for the flanged parts of the stud, and a centrally located cylindrical recess adapted to receive the head of the stud; with its side walls engaged and supported by the adjacent side walls of the recess, and a pointed flared mandrel disposed entirely within said recess so as to pierce and roll the head of such stud.

3. A tool for attaching a stud portion to an underlying sheet of material comprising a body having marginal portions adapted to serve as an anvil for the flanged part of the stud, and a centrally located cylindrical recess adapted to receive the head of the stud and support its side Walls while the fastener is being secured to the material; and a pointed mandrel disposed entirely within said recess with its point adapted to engage and pierce the head of the stud, said mandrel being flared outwardly from its pointed end towards its base whereby to roll the pierced part of the head, and being flared reversely at its base so as to serve as an anvil for such pierced head.

4. A fastener-attaching tool, as defined by claim 3, having means for adjusting the relative positions of the anvil and mandrel.

5. A fastener-attaching tool as defined by claim 3, of which the anvil and mandrel comprise parts of two telescoping elements, the mandrel being an end portion of the inner element and the anvil comprising a part of the tool sur rounding the base portion of the mandrel.

6. A fastener-attaching tool, as defined by claim 3, of which the anvil and mandrel comprise parts of two telescoping elements, the mandrel being an end portion of the inner element and the anvil comprising the part of the inner element immediately surrounding the base portion of the mandrel and the adjacent end portion of the outer element.

'7. A tool for attaching a stud element of the type including a radially disposed flange and a head having substantially cylindrical side walls, such tool comprising a body portion having marginal portions adapted to serve as an anvil for the flange of such a stud, and a centrally located cylindrical recess adapted to receive the head of such a stud and to support its cylindrical side Walls; and a conical mandrel lying wholly within such recess with its pointed end-so disposed as to engage and pierce the head of such a stud, and with its base reversely flared so as to serve as an anvil for such pierced head.

JOSEPH W. DEWS. 

